5 days ago
Robinson accuses Israel of 'nonsense', 'malicious lying'
Former President Mary Robinson has condemned what she called "ridiculous", "nonsense" and "malicious lying" regarding Israeli claims that it is ready to distribute aid into Gaza.
Mrs Robinson said that Israeli claims that UN agencies are not working quickly enough to distribute aid are "all ridiculous".
"We saw the most there was incredible collaboration between the Egyptian Red Crescent... and the UN," she said, after a visit to Egypt and the Rafah crossing alongside former New Zealand president Helen Clark.
Following the visit, Mrs Robinson said that targeted sanctions should be imposed on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and all members of his security cabinet.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mrs Robinson said that there are "piles of vital materials that have been rejected, sent back. Tents, wheelchairs, crutches".
She saw two lorries coming back with food parcels and one driver told her that he had been rejected twice in 24 hours for very minor reasons, such as the load being "too high".
"I mean, for goodness sake," Mrs Robinson said, calling it "unconscionable".
"We need to prevent and to punish, not to allow genocide."
Israel has denied responsibility for hunger spreading in Gaza, accusing Hamas militants of stealing aid shipments, which Hamas denies.
However, in response to a rising international uproar, Israel late last month announced steps to let more aid into the enclave, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
'I don't know how many will die before September'
She praised "the effort on one side" of the border and condemned "the lack of even working hours on the other (Israeli) side", who often "knock off at four in the afternoon".
"It is nonsense and it's part of the malicious lying on the Israeli side to deny starvation and to blame the UN".
She recalled a trip to Somalia during the famine there in the 1990s, and "what it means when you have a severely malnourished child".
But in Somalia those children "were getting exactly the medical aid" they needed.
"There are 325,000 severely malnourished children in Gaza today," Mrs Robinson said, adding: "I don't know how many of them will die before September."
She said that "there are stockpiles ready to go", and that "tomorrow they could flood Gaza with necesssary food".
Mrs Robinson insisted that trade with Israeli is "crucial".
She called on the EU "to implement the commitment under Article 2 of the Israeli-EU trade agreement, and stop the preferential trade" with Israel.
The fact that three G7 countries are going to recognise Palestine in September "is really important".
She also called on the League of Arab States "to step up".
Asked of the prospects for a ceasefire, she said: "If President Trump would put some of his political energy behind it, it would happen."
"We know that... he's the man that can do things fairly instantly."
